Breastfeeding, or nursing, whether in public or private spaces involves a great amount of personal choices. At different times, a nursing mother may desire clothes that focuses on practicality, while at another time style; meanwhile comfort and ease of use are always desired. The present invention describes a novel and heretofore un-contemplated article of clothing for allowing nursing mothers greater freedom in making those important choices. The invention allows for mothers to have it all in one simple and effective package. The invention allows for individual or dual breast access in a non-obvious form that can provide as much breast coverage as the mother feels comfortable with. When access to the breast is not in use, the clothing shows no signs of having specific functionality.
Much of the prior art is essentially a variation on the idea of a removable over layer covering a bottom layer with holes through which the breasts pass. For example see any of the following prior art: CN2094217U, CN2756023Y, CN201709425U, CN204048110U, DE000004324359C2, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,227. These designs suffer from significant limitations, not the least of which is the required use of unflattering front pockets which are not suited for many styles of clothing. Another concern is that the pocket flap will not create a good seal of breast coverage, particularly along the side vertical edges. Of course when the user desires access to the breast, the fastening means must be undone. It is well known among nursing mothers that the ability of easy access using one hand is highly desired because the other is typically occupied holding the child or any number of other common items (baby gear, purse, phone, etc.).
Another similar group consists of prior art in which again, there is a bottom layer with holes in it for the breasts to pass through, but that feature one single upper panel of fabric that can be raised to provide access to the breasts. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,226,452, 7,878,881, 7,448,090, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/625,325, and World Intellectual Property Organization publication number WO2005044028. While some advantage is made in ease of access, problems are again created with security of the clothing when breast access is not desired. Furthermore, controlling exposure and coverage becomes more difficult when breast access is desired.
Another group of prior art features a common theme of providing access to the breast by means of a reversibly detachable fastener holding a breast cup (curved triangular layer) against a bra-like support system that surrounds the breasts. The fastener is typically located at a point above the breast and attached to the support system which is typically a band or string of fabric that runs over the user's shoulder and down the back to engage a lower band that rests around the user's chest and is positioned just under the breasts. See US patent application US20010019933. Due to the mechanisms involved, these are limited to under garments or brassiere and not well suited to many other clothing styles. Additionally, the prior art using this system is notoriously difficult to use; even more so when using one hand.
Yet another group of prior art features relatively simple articles of clothing that feature a vertical or horizontal slit in the panel located over the breast. The slits are sealed with some mechanism such as zippers, buttons, or hook and loop fasteners. See German Patent DE000019800972A1, British Patent GB2246947A, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,660,227, and 4,663,782 (FIG. 5). These designs are readily identifiable as nursing wear. The obvious and exposed mechanism is often unstylish and undesired by the user as it draws attention. These designs also suffer from reduced ease of access and an increased potential for injury to the breast or nipple. Controlling the amount of exposure or coverage becomes difficult during feeding.
Still another group of prior art discloses the use of individual triangular panels for each breast that can be pulled aside to reveal the breast. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,677, World Intellectual Property Organization publication number WO2007053073A1, US patent application US20140220860. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,132, an additional over panel covers the triangular panels. The functional elements tend to limit the style of clothing with which the prior art can be used. Again as with other prior art, there is not much control over how much of the breast is exposed for nursing.
It's important to note that coverage may be related to temperature comfort levels, child visibility, child skin contact, a mother's privacy preference, or a mother's modesty preference. Not being able to tightly control the level of exposure may cause the user to forgo wearing the article of clothing altogether in certain environments and social circumstances.
The group of prior art most related to the present invention forgoes the complicated fasteners in favor of a relatively simple system of overlapping layers that are situated to create a horizontal opening at the breasts when the top layer is urged upward and the bottom layer is urged downward. See German Patent DE102004006597A1, European patent application EP1127499A2, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,699. The prior art discloses basic articles of clothing that can be made of two separate pieces (featuring a top and bottom section) or one combined piece with two front panels that create the overlap. While these prior art inventions have sought to maximize the ease of access, they fail to provide enough security to prevent unintended access, and leave more to be desired when it comes to controlling the coverage when the user is trying to access their breast. The reason for the lack of security is that they rely on the curvature of the user's breasts and the elasticity of the fabric to create enough friction to stay in place. However, this fails to plan for the eventuality of changing breast size associated with nursing and engorgement periods. These prior arts also fail to plan for the eventuality of changing fabric conditions due to washing, stretching, and shrinking. The reason for the lack of coverage control is similarly a product of not taking into consideration the changing fabric conditions and user measurements.